1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to driver habits monitoring systems and, more particularly, to systems used by motor vehicle insurance companies to assist them in determining the risk of losses of their policyholders.
2. Description of the Related Art
Motor vehicle insurance companies collect from the policyholder the names of the primary driver, the type of use (business or personal), and distance of travel. They also collect driving record information for the primary driver from state, county, and city agencies to determine the risk of losses of insuring the primary driver. Unfortunately, the information provided by the policyholder is not always accurate and delays occur before the information from the governmental agencies is available in a searchable database. Typically, insurance companies require that their agents periodically contact their policyholder to update their information. Many agents are reluctant to contact their policyholders to obtain this information because they fear they may find information that results in higher premiums or possible cancellation of the policyholder""s insurance policy.
What is needed is an alternative method for obtaining accurate driving information which addresses the above-stated problems that allows insurance companies to continuously monitor the primary driver""s or other authorized driver""s driving habits by examining the motor vehicle usage, the actual miles driven, the driving routes, the time of day the motor vehicle is driven, the speed, etc.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of determining the risk of loss by motor vehicle insurance companies.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such a method that enables the insurance company to monitor the actual driving habits of the authorized drivers by examining the actual miles driven, the driving routes, time of travel, and speed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such a method that can also be integrated with other databases to more accurately determine the risk of loss.
These and other objects are met by an ongoing driving record monitoring and recording system used to provide more accurate driving record information for insurance companies or other interested parties. The system uses a monitoring device located in the policyholder""s or insured driver""s motor vehicle, or another motor vehicle not owned but driven by the insured driver. Each monitoring device, which may be a hand-held device, a laptop computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or an on-board computer, is coupled to a means to determine the physical location of the motor vehicle continuously or intermittently. The computer may also be connected to an optional heading or velocity collection means to continuously or intermittently determine the heading or velocity of the motor vehicle. Each monitoring device is also coupled to a wireless communication means that enables the monitoring electronic device to connect to a wide area computer network, such as the INTERNET, anywhere throughout a selected region. The system also includes a central computer connected to a wide area network and is designed to receive the movement information from the monitoring electronic device located inside the motor vehicle.
As the motor vehicle is driven in the selected region, the movement information from the monitoring device is continuously or intermittently transmitted to and processed by the central computer and recorded in the motor vehicle or driver""s movement database. The movement database is constantly updated. Later, authorized insurance personnel or law enforcement personnel may download and review the movement database to obtain current or historical data.
In addition, to be connected to a velocity determining means, the monitoring device could also be attached to the original manufacturer""s safety monitoring system commonly provided in new motor vehicles, such as those sold by General Motors, Inc. of Detroit, Mich. and sold under the trademark ON-STAR. Such safety monitoring systems are able to detect collisions or rollovers that are automatically reported to a central office. By connecting the motor vehicle on-board safety monitoring systems to the monitoring device, abnormal forces exerted on the motor vehicle while driving may be detected and transmitted to the central computer.
In order to use the information in the movement database, the central computer is coupled to various ancillary databases that contain specific information about the various roadways in the region, selected route information, and total distance information on selected routes. In addition, the ancillary databases may include a roadway traffic database that contains information on past, present and future traffic density and flow information and a traffic event database that contains information on past, present and future events that may affect traffic along a specific roadway or route, such as construction, sporting events, a parade, etc. By using one or more of these ancillary databases, the central computer is able to provide more accurate information on the traffic conditions that the driver must drive which an insurance company may use to determine the risk of loss.
The system is adaptable for receiving manually inputted information from the users, or other sources, such as government agencies or car rental companies, or from other monitoring devices located in motor vehicles driven by the insured driver. The system is also adaptable to download information from the central computer to the monitoring device to inform the policyholder or owner of the motor vehicle that the driver has current motor vehicle insurance coverage. Such a feature would be useful for car rental companies that must be assured that customers have motor vehicle insurance prior to renting a motor vehicle.
There has thus been outlined rather broadly, in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated, the more important features of the invention. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.